Page 54 of Salvation

Anna didn’t know the area well, but she was pretty sure she’d seen the turnoff to 9257 when she’d driven to the national forest with Sarah.

“There’s a reservoir down there,” Sarah had said, pointing it out. “Some bald eagle nests, too.”

She wondered what Janna was doing all that way down there. But then again, with Janna, you never knew. Maybe she and Cole wanted to check out the eagles?

The light switched green, and she made a last-minute left turn. She’d miss the salvage place by taking this detour first, but it could wait, she supposed. She did a double take in the rearview mirror as she turned. Was that Simon in the car four vehicles back?

But then a truck rumbled past, and she’d made the turn so quickly, the car disappeared from view. Was Simon on the way to help Janna? But if he was, he’d just missed the turn.

She shook her head. It couldn’t be. She was just imagining things.

At the next red light, she keyed in her reply.On my way. See you soon.

It didn’t take long to escape the busy central part of town and join the highway heading north. The turn to the side road was exactly where she thought it would be. She’d never been down that road before, and it turned out to be much narrower and rougher than she assumed. After two bumpy miles, the asphalt petered out to dirt, and she slowed to a crawl. The truck creaked around turn after turn, making the junk in the back rattle so loudly, she wanted to shout. She stopped to text Janna again, but she’d hit a patch with no satellite connection. And no wonder, considering the steep, rocky hills that hemmed in the road.

She counted down the miles, tapping her fingers on the steering wheel. After mile marker 10, the road curved slowly, and when it straightened, she saw Janna’s car parked in a little pullout by the trailhead. Actually, there were three cars: Janna’s little Ford — that had to be it, even though Anna swore Janna’s car was yellow and not red — plus two other vehicles parked at the far end of the small pullout. One was a van with tinted windows left slightly open — and man, that must have had a hell of a time getting out this far. The other was a big rig pickup with Kansas plates.

She’d half expected to find Janna leaning casually against her car, but there was no one to be seen. Anna parked, got out of the truck slowly, and looked around. A hawk cried overhead. The wind stirred the parched grass on the hillsides.

“Janna?” she called, turning in a circle. Had she gone off bird watching while waiting for help?

The car looked okay, with no steam rising from the hood, so that was a good sign. But where was Janna? Where was Cole? The owners of the other vehicles were nowhere to be seen, either. Maybe they’d gone hiking for the day.

“Janna?” she called a little louder.

Her voice echoed faintly off the rocky bluffs.

“Over here!” the delayed reply came.

Anna walked a few steps and looked around.

“Janna?” she called, more quietly this time as uncertainty hit her. Why didn’t Janna come out? Why did her voice waver like that?

A thousand scary possibilities hit her at once. Maybe Janna had gone scrambling over the rocks in search of an eagle’s nest and fallen. Or maybe Cole had been bitten by a rattlesnake. Sarah had said rattlers weren’t that big a danger on the hike they’d done, but that was a forested area and this was drier, open space.

She glanced around. An open, eerie place.

“Over here!” the voice came again, choked and more urgent this time.

The hair prickled on the back of her neck, and she hesitated. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. But if Janna and Cole were out there and one of them was hurt, she had to do something. She checked her phone. Still no reception.

“Please!” the voice begged.

There was a rake sticking out of the heap of junk in the back of the truck, and she nearly pulled it out. But then she spotted an old set of golf clubs and took one instead. It seemed silly, carrying a piece of sports equipment through the scrubby landscape, but heck, if there were snakes out there, she ought to carry something, right?

“Janna? Cole? Are you okay?” She walked a few steps toward a cluster of rocks where the voice came from. A stand of thorny acacia blocked her way around the right side of the rocks, but a narrow path led around the left side, so she headed that way, picking her way slowly. The last thing she needed was a twisted ankle or a snake bite. Finally, she pushed aside a branch and came out into an open space, where she pulled up short.

A woman stood stiffly with her back to a tree, her face hidden by harsh shadows. But even in the mottled effect of the light, it was obvious that wasn’t Janna. This woman was shorter, and her hair was fairer than Janna’s. Anna took one more step then froze.

The young woman’s face was streaked with tears, and a red bruise marred the left side of her face. Her hands were behind her body, as if—

“I’m so sorry,” the woman whispered at the very moment Anna realized she’d been tied to the tree.

Anna jerked back a step and gaped.

“Where’s Janna?” she asked, confused.

“They made me do it. I had to play along to save the others.”

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